Big D and the Fang Gang: The Absolute Top Vampire Fiction

My friends over at Titan Books tell me that to commemorate the centenary of Bram Stoker’s April 20, 1912, death, the Horror Writers Association has generated a short-list of the 20th century’s best vampire novels. A jury of writers and scholars selected six titles that they believe have had the greatest impact on the horror genre since Dracula‘s 1897 publication.

Kim Newman’s rich and compelling alternate history Anno Dracula, published in both the US and UK by Titan, is listed alongside ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and The Soft Whisper of the Dead by Charles L. Grant (what, no Twilight!).

The winning book will be announced on March 31, 2012, at the World Horror Convention.

With all the hype surrounding vampires these days, put these titles on a table with a little sign saying voted the 20th century’s best vampire novels by the Horror Writers Association and these‚ ahem‚ suckers should fly off like bats!

200 Candles

Completely unrelated, but happy 200th birthday to Charles Dickens. Have a look at Margaret Heilbrun’s book roundup and my audiobook collection of the old boy’s works. Also born this day were Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867) and Sinclair Lewis (1885).

Comments

K:
Not a big vampire reader, but have done Dracula, of course, and I’ve also read ‘Salem, Interview, and Legend and enjoyed them all. I’ll have to keep an eye out for the others on the list. King especially is a good creeper.

Thanks, Mike. A terrific one is THE KEEP, by F. Paul Wilson, which was written about 30 years ago. This page turner probes the question: should a Jew trying to escape certain death during the Holocaust align himself with a brutal vampire who has no problems with draining Nazis among others?